Reimagining Interface at Mobile World Congress

Interfaces that travel 

The honor magic V6 phone was demo’d under water, in ice, and with attachable motion tracking cameras that quite literally follow you where you go.  Among a sea of other impressive personal device hardware, the ulePhone also appeared almost indestructable, as conference attendees were invited to quite literally jump on it to test it’s resillence, setting it up perfectly as a companion for the great outdoors where we increasingly spend more time seeking adventures from the everyday.  

To round out impressive personal interfaces was the Xiaomi 17 ultra device with inbuild Leica camera. Or rather a Leica camera that seemingly doubles as a phone. A traveller’s dream companion device and to me a demonstration as interfaces still act as our portal to the world around us, to help us document, make and create in advanced ways.  

Embedded interfaces 

There were some advanced demonstrations of wearable interfaces, some external, and some embedded on our bodies to create a more seamless interface between us, information and the context around us.  

Qwen AI debuted their new Qwen Glasses. Trying on the device, they were incredibly lightweight and wearable. Through simple gesture commands, I was able to speak to ‘Qwenny’ and it was able to identify objects and cultural places around me or on display cards, presenting useful information on whatever I was looking at, discreatly into my ear. Although not with perfect accuracy, the Qwen Glasses will also be able to offer speech to real time translation for the wearer too, this time understanding the context my colleague was describing in dutch and presenting it to me in English.  

In the four-years-from-now centre, there was a volume of safe-smart devices for children, keeping connectivity without the exposure to online content or strangers, and evolutions on smart-rings and wrist bands, that the user can interact with through simple gestures or whispers. Nothing that would convince me to trade in my Oura ring just yet, but devices that work to make wearable interfaces increasingly human.  

On the far end of the spectrum, I discovered smart contact lenses, with 3D imaging, VR, wireless connectivity, biosensors, worn on the eye, offering the wearer a custom display of the world. Only a very early stage prototype, and something I would assume the vast majority are not ready to embrace. However I take from this the importance of interfaces becoming much more ‘natural’ to our human behaviour and seamlessly augmenting our view on the worlda around us.   

Interface to your imagination 

A scent generating device that based on inputs generated an AI enabled fragrance unique to the owner, was on display from Scircle. I can imagine a world where our makeup and fragrance are not just personalised to us as the wearer, but are also adaptive to the context and company around us, allowing us to show up differently and fluidly.  

As a familiar interface, where form factor is being pushed and reimagined, there were a number of smart jewellery innovations on display. Artefacts that you can wear but also extend your self and personal expression are adopted more widely, some designed to seem invisible and seamless, some highly artistically shaped and designed to grab attention.  

One experience that really enhanced personal expression was Adobe x Sharpie, where we were invited to colour in and creatively style a creature, that through Adobe Firefly, Google Gemini and Veo, was then brought to life and broadcast to a large display interface, giving the character life, personality and a place in the ‘real world’.  A fun example of how interface is increasingly extending our creativity.